JP5338232B2 - Interdental brush - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an interdental brush including a brush portion in which a filament is sandwiched between wires and twisted so that the filament is planted around the wire. It relates to an improved interdental brush.

  Various types of interdental brushes have been proposed in the past. For example, the flocked portion is composed of two or more parts, and the physical properties (material, shape, thickness, Interdental brush that can be used to plant various filaments with different colors and achieve various functions required with a single brush, or to propose new modes of use with the added new functions (Patent Literature) 1) and interdental brushes (Patent Document 2) with a plurality of recesses formed on the surface of the filament of the brush part to improve interdental insertion and cleaning, good usability, and excellent durability (Patent Document 2) Has been. However, these conventional interdental brushes have certain limitations in improving the reachability to details such as the interdental corners of the brush portion and the cleaning effect.

JP-A-9-23928 Utility Model Registration No. 3139296

  In view of the above-mentioned situation, the present invention intends to provide an interdental brush that can improve the cleaning effect and the detail reachability and can improve the pull-out strength of the filament.

  As a result of intensive studies to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present inventor has used a conventional interdental brush with a circular cross-section filament in the brush portion. As a result of finding a certain point and solving this, the present invention has been completed.

  In order to enhance the cleaning effect with the interdental brush, it is conceivable to increase the packing density of the filament to be implanted. In conventional filaments with a circular cross-section, even when the filaments are tightly sandwiched between the wires, gaps are created between the filaments and between the filaments and the wires in the flocked state after twisting, because of the roundness between the filaments and the wires. There is a certain limit to the improvement in density. Therefore, there is a limit to the frictional force due to the presence of the gap, the filament may come off during cleaning, and the site that contributes to the cleaning effect during interdental cleaning is not the tip of the filament like a toothbrush, When inserted between the teeth, it becomes an abdominal part (outer peripheral surface) of the filament that bends and abuts against the interdental part. There is a limit to the action to be taken, and there is a limit to reachability to details. If a thin filament is used, even if it has a circular cross section, the details can be reached. However, the support strength is weak and the cleaning effect is reduced.

  That is, according to the present invention, an interdental brush having a brush portion in which a filament is sandwiched between twisted wires and then twisted to twist the wire, and the filament has a polygonal cross-sectional shape. The interdental brush is characterized in that at least one internal angle of the polygonal cross-sectional shape is an acute angle of 30 to 75 degrees. The “acute angle” includes those in which the inner angle between the sides is an acute angle and the apex portion is slightly rounded. In addition, “polygon” includes those in which the corners of the polygon are slightly rounded, and also includes those having some distortion, such as a shape in which the side portion bulges outward to some extent or a shape indented inward. . The polygonal cross-sectional shape preferably has two or more acute corners.

Here, it is preferable that the acute angle is 1.2 to 3 times the twist angle of the wire. “The twist angle of the wire” is an angle formed by the wire with respect to the axial direction of the brush portion to be formed (that is, the insertion direction between the teeth of the brush portion), and the filament sandwiched between the wires It arranges spirally along.
In the interdental brush of the present invention, the polygonal cross-sectional shape is preferably selected from a substantially equilateral triangle, a substantially rhombus, a substantially isosceles triangle, and a substantially parallelogram .
Moreover, in the interdental brush of this invention, it is preferable that the acute angle comprises at least one edge part of the longest side of a polygonal cross-sectional shape .

  Moreover, it is preferable that the planted filaments are stacked in two or more rows in the axial direction of the brush portion and are sandwiched between wires. Here, the “row” of filaments between wires refers to a row of filaments in which the filaments having the same cross-sectional shape are aligned in the longitudinal direction of the wire, and “laminated state” refers to each of these rows. Are stacked in two or more rows in the wire width direction perpendicular to the wire longitudinal direction. The “axial direction of the brush part” means the insertion and extraction directions of the interdental brush.

Moreover, it is preferable that the filaments are laminated in a state where polygonal cross-sectional shapes are densely arranged. “Densely arranged state” means that the polygonal cross-sectional shapes of the filaments are densely arranged without gaps, but also includes those having some gaps. In addition, the polygonal cross-sectional shape of all the filaments planted by the brush part does not necessarily need to be densely arranged, and what is necessary is just a dense state about half or more of the filaments planted. Each filament is sandwiched in a dense and laminated state, so that two adjacent filaments form a substantially parallelogram cross section.
In the interdental brush of the present invention, in a state where the filament is sandwiched between the wires, the direction toward the corner that forms an acute angle from the center of gravity of the polygonal cross section of the filament and the axial direction of the brush portion are substantially the same. It is preferable to become or close.

  According to the interdental brush according to the present invention as described above, the cross-sectional shape of the filament is a polygon such as an equilateral triangle, and the sharp angle portion of the polygonal cross-sectional shape is brushed by being sandwiched and twisted between wires. Can be oriented in the axial direction (insertion and extraction direction of interdental brush), and the pressure at the time of brushing is concentrated on the acute angle portion to improve the cleaning effect, and the acute angle portion leads to details between the teeth. , Can remove the dirt from the root. In addition, if the filament has a cross-sectional shape according to the present invention, each side of the polygon is filled so that the sides thereof are in close contact with each other, and a structure in which the density is increased is possible. This makes it difficult for the filament to come off the wire. In the present invention, in particular, an excellent cleaning effect is maintained by the fact that the cross-sectional shape of the filament is a substantially equilateral triangle, a substantially rhombus, a substantially isosceles triangle, or a substantially parallelogram. Can be densified. Among them, in particular, those having a substantially equilateral triangle are excellent in cleaning effect, have high support strength of filaments, have a high filling rate at the time of arrangement, and can reduce a defect occurrence rate at the time of production.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing the overall configuration of an interdental brush according to the present invention, in which 1 is an interdental brush, 2 is a brush part, 3 is a filament, 4 is a wire, and 5 is a handle part. ing.

  As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the interdental brush 1 has a plurality of (many) filaments 3 sandwiched between folded wires 4, and twists the wire 4 to twist the outer periphery of the wire 4. A plurality of filaments 3,... Are radially arranged on the surface, and the brush portion 2 is formed by shaping by hair cutting. In the present invention, the filament 3 has a polygonal cross-sectional shape. The at least one interior angle of the polygonal shape is an acute angle of 30 to 75 degrees, which makes the interdental portion easy to clean and reachable in detail as compared with the interdental brush in which a circular filament having a cross-section is implanted. It can be improved and the pull-out strength of the filament is improved.

  In this example, the wire base portion of the brush portion 2 is embedded and held at the distal end portion of the synthetic resin rod-like handle portion 5, and the method of holding the brush portion 2 and the handle portion 5 will be described. 2 is inserted and held when the handle portion 5 is molded, or an attachment hole is formed in the handle portion 5, and the wire base is heated and inserted into the attachment hole and held by high frequency heating or ultrasonic fusion. Can be used. Further, instead of fixing, the brush portion 2 may be detachably attached to the mounting hole of the handle portion 5. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 7, you may provide so that the front-end | tip part of the handle | steering-wheel part 5 may be bent in L shape, and the brush part 2 may protrude from there. Other examples include a disposable type in which the brush base of the brush part 2 is embedded and fixed in a short shaft handle, and a brush base 2 in which the brush base is embedded and fixed in a short axis base to and removed from the long axis holder. It is possible to adopt various forms such as those that are freely mounted, those in which the tip of the long axis holder is bent, and those in which the long axis holder is an electric interdental brush.

  As the material of the filament 3 and the wire 4 constituting the brush part 2, any conventionally known materials can be widely used. The filament 3 is a monofilament made of synthetic resin, such as polyamide (nylon), polypropylene, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT), a mixture of these resins, and other synthetic resins. The thing made from a product can be selected suitably. Further, fine particles or chemical substances may be added inside the filament. For the wire 4, a stainless steel wire such as SUS304 or SUS316 can be suitably used. For example, a stainless steel wire containing a large amount of manganese is preferable, and a cobalt alloy or the like is also preferable.

  Conventionally known methods can also be widely applied to the method of implanting the filament 3 into the wire 4. For example, a pick that presses a picker with grooves formed at predetermined intervals against an original bundle of hundreds of thousands of filaments of a predetermined length, picks up the filaments by a fixed number of pieces in the grooves, and picks them between wires. A plurality of wound bodies in which a continuous hair bundle obtained by bundling a plurality of filaments in a bundle is wound around a reel, and a group of hair bundles fed out simultaneously from the plurality of wound bodies are supplied between the wires. A reel type in which the upper hair bundle is evenly distributed between the wires and then the wires are twisted can be adopted. The hair-cut shape of the brush part 2 after flocking may be a conical shape as in the example of FIG. 1, or may be various shapes such as a columnar shape, a barrel shape, and a drum shape.

  The filaments 3,... Implanted between the wires 4 are implanted in a spiral along the twisting direction of the wires 4, as shown in the enlarged schematic view of FIG. The arrangement of the filaments 3 is controlled to one row or two or more rows depending on the number of filaments to be sandwiched and the twisting condition of the wires. For example, by sandwiching 200 to 500 filaments in a wire and setting the number of twists (number of turns) of the wire between the filaments to 10 to 20 times, per unit of the number of twists of the wire (per turn) The arrangement of the filaments can be controlled by setting the number of flocks to 10 to 55, preferably 15 to 40, more preferably 20 to 35. In the figure, (a) is an example in which filaments having a substantially equilateral triangle cross section are arranged in four rows, and (b) in the figure is an example in which the filaments are arranged in two rows. In the present invention, the shape of the cross-section 30 of the filament 3 is a polygon, and at least one inner angle of the polygon is an acute angle of 30 to 75 degrees, preferably 45 to 70 degrees, more preferably 50 to 70 degrees. According to this, in the state sandwiched between the wires, the direction 3a of the acute angle portion 31 viewed from the center of gravity 32 of the filament cross section 30 is the axial direction (insertion direction) 2a of the brush portion 2 as shown in FIG. When cleaning, the sharp ridgeline portion 33 can easily reach the corners between the teeth as shown in FIG. 4 and can be peeled off from the roots to remove accumulated dirt. Therefore, the cleaning effect is remarkably improved, the support strength of the filament is structurally increased, and the hair is strengthened.

  It is effective that the direction 3a of the acute angle portion 31 of the filament 3 thus planted is substantially coincident with the axial direction 2a of the brush portion 2. For this purpose, the angle θ3 of the corner portion 31 is the twist of the wire. An angle larger than the twist angle θ4, more specifically, the angle θ3 is 1.2 to 3 times, preferably 1.5 to 2.5 times, more preferably 1.7 to 2.2 times the twist angle θ4. Is the angle. If the angle θ3 is equal to or smaller than the twist angle θ4, the filament is liable to fall in the lateral direction during cleaning, and the resistance (hairiness) becomes weak. When the angle is 1.2 to 3 times, the stability is good and the left and right are not easily tilted, the resistance is high and the cleaning effect is improved. The twist angle θ4 is generally determined by the thickness of the wire and the like, and is about 25 to 40 degrees, preferably about 30 to 35 degrees.

  Further, in a state before the wire 4 is twisted, the filaments 3 are placed with a gap between the wires, and most of the filaments 3 have the longest side 34 having a polygonal cross-sectional shape in the longitudinal direction of the wire 4. In the case of a polygonal cross-sectional shape having four or more corners, the longest diagonal 35 is in a stable posture so as to be along the longitudinal direction of the wire 4. As the wire 4 is twisted from this state and the gap becomes smaller, each filament 3 comes into close contact with the outer surface 40 of the wire 4, so that the longest side 34 remains on the wire outer surface 40 even after being twisted. The filament 3 is in close contact with the wire 4 with the longest diagonal 35 close to the spiral direction. Therefore, in order for the direction 3a of the acute angle portion 31 of the filament 3 to substantially coincide with the axial direction 2a of the brush portion 2 as described above, the acute angle corner portion 31 is at least one of the longest sides 34 of the polygonal cross-sectional shape. The corner portion 31 is more preferably an acute angle portion of 30 to 75 degrees. Here, the “longest side” corresponds to a case where all sides such as a substantially equilateral triangle and a substantially rhombus have the same length or a plurality of sides. Moreover, it is preferable that it is a corner | angular part which comprises the longest diagonal 35, and it is more preferable that both the corners 31 and 31 which comprise the diagonal 35 are 30-75 degree acute angle corners.

  Considering the relationship between the longest side or the diagonal line and the corner, the support strength, and the packing density at the time of arrangement, the specific cross-sectional shape of the filament 3 is substantially equilateral triangle or substantially as shown in FIG. It is preferable to use a rhombus, a substantially isosceles triangle, and a substantially parallelogram. Here, the corners of each of the shapes of "equivalent equilateral triangle", "substantially rhombus", "substantially isosceles triangle", and "substantially parallelogram" are regular triangle, rhombus, isosceles triangle, and parallelogram. Needless to say, it also includes those having some distortion, such as ridges, swelled slightly on the sides, and dents on the inside. In particular, the substantially equilateral triangles and rhombuses shown in FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b) are more preferable in terms of support strength because they are almost symmetrical with respect to the axial direction 2a of the brush portion 2, and are particularly balanced. A substantially regular triangle, which is a good regular polygon, has excellent cleaning effect, high packing density, high hair removal strength, low defect occurrence rate during production, and high support strength. It is an example.

  In addition, in the case of a substantially isosceles triangle, the flat substantially isosceles triangle of FIG. 5C in which the corners 31, 31 at both ends of the longest side 34 are acute angles is preferable, thereby increasing the packing density. As shown in FIGS. 5B and 5D, the longer diagonal 35 substantially coincides with the axial direction 2a of the brush portion 2 in both the case of a substantially rhombus and a case of a substantially isosceles triangle, thereby improving the cleaning effect. I understand that. As for the substantially rhombuses, substantially isosceles triangles, and substantially parallelograms except for the regular equilateral triangle, it is preferable to set the angle θ3 of the acute angle portion 31 within the range of 30 to 75 degrees as described above.

  FIGS. 6A and 6B are enlarged schematic views in which filaments having a substantially rhombic cross section are planted. FIG. 6A shows an example in which the filaments are arranged in two rows, and FIG. 6B shows an example in which the filaments are arranged in one row. By filling the filaments in two or more rows in this way, the filament packing density can be increased, the hair pulling strength can be increased, and by supporting each other, the supporting strength can be improved and the cleaning effect can be further improved. it can.

  The filaments 3,... Constituting the brush part 2 do not have to have the same cross-sectional shape, and a plurality of types of filaments having different cross-sectional shapes may be mixed and planted. The method of mixing may be mixed at random, but in terms of packing density, it is preferable to plant the same type together in a region. For example, the cross-sectional shape of the filament in the flocked region on the wire tip side is approximately rhombus, and the cross-sectional shape of the filament in the flocked region on the base end side is approximately equilateral triangle, or a non-applicable item such as a circle is randomly or divided into regions Also includes flocking. Moreover, it is also possible to use the one in which the filament itself is twisted.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and can of course be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  Next, the test result of the cleaning effect using the sample of the brush part will be described.

(Brushability test)
A pseudo plaque (trade name “Occlude”, Pascal Company Inc.) is applied to the part that will form the interdental surface of the pseudo interdental model, and the brush samples of Examples 1 to 3 and Comparative Examples 1 to 3 below are applied. Then, each insertion and withdrawal of the pseudo interdental portion was performed once, and the pseudo plaque was wiped out. After the wiping, the interdental surface of the pseudo interdental model was photographed, and the pseudo plaque removal rate was calculated by image analysis.

(Brush sample)
Each sample used a filament made of nylon, and a twisted brush was made of SUS304 stainless steel wire. The filament cross-sectional shape of each sample is a substantially equilateral triangle in Example 1, a substantially isosceles triangle in Example 2, a substantially rhombus in Example 3, a circle in Comparative Example 1, a rectangle in Comparative Example 2, and a comparison in Comparative Example 3. The same circle as in Example 1 was used. Although the filament side surfaces of Examples 1 to 3 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 are all smooth, only Comparative Example 3 has an uneven shape.

(Test results)
As shown in Table 1 below, in Examples 1 to 3, an excellent cleaning effect exceeding the removal rate of 82% could be confirmed. On the other hand, Comparative Examples 1 to 3 remained at 79% or less. Among Examples 1 to 3, Example 1 whose filament cross-sectional shape is a substantially equilateral triangle exhibited a high cleaning effect of 89.0%.

  8 (a) and 8 (b) are enlarged photographs of the brush part. (A) shows a filament having a substantially equilateral triangle cross-sectional shape, and (b) shows a filament having a substantially rhombic cross-sectional shape. It is a planted hair. As can be seen from (a), the packing density of the filaments is high and there are no gaps, and the acute angles of the filaments are staggered, but it can be seen that they are aligned in the same direction facing the axial direction of the brush portion as shown in FIG. Also in the case of the substantially rhombus of (b), the long diagonal lines are aligned in the same direction facing the axial direction of the brush portion as shown in FIG. 6, and a slight space is formed in this sample, but only the wire is twisted further. It can be seen that the packing density can be easily increased.

Explanatory drawing which shows the whole structure of the interdental brush which concerns on typical embodiment of this invention. Explanatory drawing which shows the manufacture procedure of a brush part. It is the expansion schematic diagram (description figure) of the filament of the cross-section equilateral triangle planted between wires, (a) is the example which arranged the filament in 4 rows, (b) is the example which arranged in 2 rows. Explanatory drawing explaining operation | movement of the filament in the case of interdental cleaning. (A)-(d) is explanatory drawing which shows the preferable example of a filament cross-sectional shape. It is an expansion schematic diagram (explanatory drawing) of the filament of the cross-section substantially rhombus planted between the wires, (a) is an example in which the filaments are arranged in two rows, (b) is an example in which the filaments are arranged in one row. Explanatory drawing which shows the modification of the handle part of an interdental brush. Enlarged photo of the brush part.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Interdental brush 2 Brush part 2a Axial direction of brush part 3 Filament 3a Direction of acute angle part 4 Wire 5 Handle part 30 Filament cross section 31 Acute angle part 32 Center of gravity point 33 Ridge line part 34 Longest side 35 Longest diagonal line 40 Wire Exterior

Claims (7)

In an interdental brush provided with a brush part in which a filament is inserted into the wire by twisting the wire between the folded wires and twisting the wire,
The filament has a polygonal cross-sectional shape;
Ri acute der at least one interior angle is 30 to 75 degrees of the polygonal cross-sectional shape,
The twist angle of the wire is 25-40 degrees ;
Interdental brush characterized by. The interdental brush according to claim 1, wherein the acute angle is 1.2 to 3 times larger than a twist angle of the wire. The interdental brush according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the polygonal cross-sectional shape is selected from a substantially equilateral triangle, a substantially rhombus, a substantially isosceles triangle, and a substantially parallelogram. The interdental brush according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the acute angle constitutes at least one end of the longest side of the polygonal cross-sectional shape. The interdental brush according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein two or more rows of the filaments between the wires are stacked in the axial direction of the brush portion. The interdental brush according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein more than half of the filaments between the wires are arranged so that their polygonal cross-sectional shapes are densely spaced. In a state where the filament is sandwiched between the wires, the direction from the center of gravity in the polygonal cross section of the filament toward the corner that forms the acute angle and the axial direction of the brush portion substantially coincide with or close to each other The interdental brush according to any one of claims 1 to 6.